EMDR for Trauma, PTSD and complex PTSD
EMDR – Eye Movement and Desensitisation Reprocessing – whilst counselling and psychotherapy provide us with inisight into our problems, be it anxiety, depression, self-esteem, stress, etc, EMDR is a treatment which provides profound change. EMDR or eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing, is a therapy which works at a deep level, profoundly changing the way we see things. With EMDR we are often not aware that something has changed , or we have changed, but we know that we feel different and react differently when something upsets us.
EMDR is informed by recent research in the way the mind and body work to alleviate symptoms of traumatic experience and works in the same way that our cells and body help us heal from cuts and broken bones. EMDR provides much more than insight - it changes us. Sometimes this is done by finding the original episode where the symptoms started and sometimes by healing early relationships, we can help to create new understandings which then leads to symptom alleviation.
EMDR is based on a clear and grounded understanding of how the brain and the body experience and process trauma and distress, EMDR is one of the most successful, effective and intensively-researched ways we know of tackling the aftermath of trauma. Please explore the hundreds of articles and websites dedicated to this, including:
- In psychology today
- Attachemnt-focused EMDR
I invite you to come in and experience, even in one session, the powerful and profound effects of EMDR.
EMDR is the NICE recommended treatment for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. However, PTSD is not just about big traumatic incidents but also about the little hurts that we all experience, at time, growing up - from parents, teachers, peers. These 'little' hurts have loooong roots and can effect us even today when we are triggered by recent events, such as a relationship break-up.
More information about EMDR
I often ask clients: were your parents frightening or frightened? If the answer is yes to either of those questions, you will certainly have
experienced childhood 'hurts' or 'attachment trauma'. New research on the brain (see Alan Shore on brain development and trauma) shows the connection between attachment and brain development.
If we have had parents who are frightening or frightened, our whole nervous system will be on alert. This hypervigilance may cause problems in the present . A number common symptoms have been found to be caused by childhood 'hurts' from attachment injuries which show up in brain scans include:
- anxiety
- depression
- anger
- OCD
- eating disorders
- addictons
- some body-centred illnesses such as Chronic Fatigue, etc
Recent brain research shows that if we experience an event as traumatic, the experience becomes 'frozen' in the part of our brain to do with survival. The memory is not processed like other memories and can remain stuck, causing us to have 'feeling flashbacks' where we feel that we've been here before... The reaction to the traumatic event can often cause us to have those mental health problems listed above and often why people come into therapy in the first place.
Events which can traumatise us include:
- Bereavement
- Childbirth
- Accidents and injuries
- Surviving major disasters
- Parental divorce
- Bullying at school or at home
- One or both parents suffering from a mental health problem, such as depression
- Childhood Traumas
- Rape or assault
- Soldiers/Police/Firemen - after witnessing combat, deaths, violence, etc
EMDR can help us to re-wire the brain. To help to put the event in the past where it belongs and let go of the effect of past events on the present and thus the future.
For more information on EMDR and what it is good for click here
Dealing with Bad Dreams and Night Terrors
Dr Justin Havens has very kindly shared this Dream Completion Technique animation which can help eradicate, overnight, nightmares and bad dreams with a simple technique that can be learnt in five minutes
To return to the Home Page, click here.
Mic Austen MA, MSc, MA, Dip
Masters degree in Counselling and Psychotherapy
Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy
EMDR Practitioner
Advanced Trauma Training
Sensorimotorpsychotherapy
Brentwood Counsellor and Psychotherapy
Tel: 07445-672295
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UKCP Accredited Counsellor & Psychotherapist
IMAGO Relationship Therapist
Sensorimotor psychotherapy for trauma
Trauma and Dissociative disorders
Individuals, Relationships and Couples Therapist
Counselling, Psychotherapy & EMDR in Brentwood, Shenfield, Chelmsford, Upminster, Hornchurch, Billericay in Essex
Paddington, Maida Vale, Little Venice, Bayswater, West London
@7
Please see my BLOG for more information on how I work...
Latest BLOG entry is: Counselling and Psychotherapy: What to expect in the first sesson?
I am an experienced UKCP registered Psychotherapist and Counsellor working in private practice in Brentwood, Essex near Shenfield, Billericay and Chelmsford, I also work in Central London, near Maida Vale/Paddington.
